📋 Tender Overview
PROJECT ID
110649
TOTAL FUNDING
CAD 998,600.00
IDRC OFFICER
Flaubert Mbiekop
PROJECT STATUS
Active
DURATION
36 months
Summary
The circular economy refers to a model of production and consumption that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. It is an important approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through more efficient material flows. However, circular-economy actions are underrepresented in national climate policies and measures due to their cross-sectoral nature and the challenge of quantifying impacts. According to the 2024 Circular Gap Report, the global circularity rate has fallen steadily from 9.1% in 2018 to 7.2% in 2023. Yet, there are important benefits to switching to a circular economy, including job creation, business creation and environmental protection.
This project seeks to tackle the scaling challenges facing African circular-economy businesses by leveraging the potential of digital innovations to optimize resource use, improve supply chain efficiency and reduce waste, thereby enhancing their sustainability and competitiveness. It will also support circular-economy small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal to access climate finance — financial resources and instruments that are used to support climate action.
The project will develop tailored digital platforms, toolkits, policy briefs and other publications, training programs and capacity-building initiatives to support SMEs in adopting and implementing gender-responsive, circular-economy business activities. The research team will use quantitative and qualitative approaches to examine the impact of digital innovations on the scaling of circular-economy businesses with a particular focus on business processing. The project will result in more job opportunities in the circular-economy sector, reduced resource consumption and pollution, and women's increased participation and agency. It will be implemented in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria.
